The U.S. government has warned a Virginia judge that an American Marine’s adoption of an Afghan war orphan was flawed and could be seen as international child abduction.

The U.S. government has warned a Virginia judge that an American Marine’s adoption of an Afghan war orphan was flawed and could be seen as international child abduction.

  • aard@kyu.de
    391·
    1 year ago

    If you just read the headline - read the article. From the headline you could assume that it might be some grey area thing - but based on the article “could be seen as abduction” is a very friendly phrase to describe what has happened.

    • Arrakis@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      1 year ago

      Jesus Christ.

      They literally stole a fucking baby.

      How the fuck is he not been imprisoned?

        • Arrakis@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          1 year ago

          Being raised by the blood family she already has who love and want her; or even just a family that doesn’t lie and break the law in order to get their own way, would presumably be a good start.

          • Phanatik@kbin.social
            9·
            1 year ago

            They didn’t just lie and break the law. Mast used his privilege as a weapon to make sure him and his wife could illegally adopt this baby from a couple who had lost everything short of their lives. They had nothing and this scumbag wanted more.

            • charlytune@mander.xyz
              6·
              1 year ago

              He and his wife have also changed the little girl’s name to an American one. That’s a sure indication they intend to disconnect her from her heritage. If they keep her there’s a good chance she’d come to hate them as an adult if / when she finds out with they’ve done. Absolute psychopaths.

        • livus@kbin.social
          4·
          1 year ago

          To go back to her real family, obviously.

          Living with the kind of sociopath who steals children from their families and creates an extensive web of lies around it wouldn’t be good for any child.

          • tallwookie@lemm.eeEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            per the article, her real family is dead - suicide bomber.

            looks like my cursory inspection of the article was incorrect

            • livus@kbin.social
              4·
              1 year ago

              @tallwookie no, I think you need to read it again.

              • her parents were killed in a US raid

              • she was placed with other family members who were raising her

              • a year and a half later this guy kidnapped her from them on the pretext of getting her more medical treatment

              • he then lied to the US courts about the whole thing

              Excerpts from the article:

              The Afghan government was tracking down relatives, a State Department official wrote, and found an uncle who reported that the girl’s father, a farmer, had been slain in the raid, along with his wife and five other children…

              The Red Cross took her to the Afghan family, who wept when they met her, according to a State Department declaration attached to the court filings. A young newlywed couple, the child’s cousin and his wife, raised her for the next 18 months…

              As the family grew and bonded, Mast tracked them down and tried to convince them to send the child to the United States by promising medical care, the Afghan family told AP last year. They said they refused to go along with the plan; they didn’t want to be separated from the girl, who appeared to have fully recovered from a fractured skull, broken leg and serious burns.

              Later, in the summer of 2021, when U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took over, Mast reiterated his offer of assistance, “misleading” the couple into believing the child would receive specialized medical treatment, the Justice Department wrote. Mast helped arrange a Defense Department evacuation of the Afghan family by “falsely telling other military personnel that he was clear to bring the Child,” the Justice Department wrote.

    • yenahmik@lemmy.world
      9·
      1 year ago

      I was not prepared for the deliberate manipulation that was done to get the child into his custody. I’d assumed she was already in his custody and there were people trying to get the custody from him. But no, she was in her biological family’s custody and he tricked them into handing her over. This is straight up evil.

      Link to the rundown of what happened to get to this point